Five ways technology in the library gives you more

Tuesday 28 June 2016

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28 June 2016

Free WiFi is now available in all council-run libraries in Sheffield and most community-run branches.

So what else has changed technologically to give users more?

E-library: eBooks, magazines and audiobooks became available to library members last year to download on smartphones, tablets and computers. Magazines are proving particularly popular with more than 20,000 downloads. Favourite titles are Hello, Good Housekeeping and New Scientist.

Library catalogue: There was no such thing as an online catalogue 20 years ago when records were stored on cards and filled in by hand. People now renew and reserve materials at www.sheffield.gov.uk/libraries with almost 200,000 visits to the online catalogue each year.

Picture Sheffield: The council’s Archives and Local Studies Service preserves information about Sheffield dating from the 12th century to the present day. This includes 100,000 photographs, with 60,000 available at www.picturesheffield.com. We want to put all images online and have volunteers to help with this. Please get in touch if you want to help.

Online driving tests: Your local library might not be the first place you’d think of for driving test help but 7,000 free practice theory tests were taken last year through the council’s E-library.

Family history: For the last 10 years or so people have been able to find long-lost family members or research their ancestors through our family history search, Find My Past. It’s a popular service with almost 150,000 searches made last year.